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Roman Republics (SWM)
The Roman Republics is a country in Europe and Northern Africa comprising of two autonomous republics (Western Roman Republic and the Eastern Roman Republic) and one imperial zone (Italia). It is the centerpiece of what is known as the Roman Empire, which is simply a collection of independent nations which were once a part of the Republics and its predecessors. The Republics was founded in 1460 after Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI pushed the Ottomans out of Anatolia, with the Declaration at Byzantium. Constantine wanted to see the entire former Roman Empire, as it was under the Principate, to be reunited. He died in 1464 in Macedonia while attempting to rid the region of the Ottomans. His son, Justinian III, managed to do what his father envisioned, and by 1513, the Roman Empire as it looked during the Principate was again one. The Republics remained the undisputed world power for centuries, and went on the colonize almost the entire known world as it is today. However, as its colonies and dominions fought for independence, the Republics were severely weakened. Its final major colonial war, the War of 1905, shrunk the Republics to its current size: most of Europe and areas of Northern Africa. The Treaty of Londinium made this official, and essentially barred the Republics from expanding their borders. The Republics remains, however, the strongest military power in the region, and the third-most powerful after its former colony, the United States of America, and one of its historic arch rivals, the People's Republic of China. Each Republic has its own capital and has its own government. Each government consists of the executive Consul and the legislative Popular Assembly. Judicial powers are vested in several executive or legislative appointed officials, such as magistrates, praetors or tribunes. The Emperor (currently Justinian X) is the ceremonial head of state of the Republics, however has direct executive authority in the Imperial Zone of Italia. The Senate is the national legislative body, however, concerns itself mostly with Italia and advising the Emperor. Politics The Roman Republics has a very unique government system. The majority of the world's nations, which were at some point controlled by the Roman Empire, use former and current provincial political systems. The Westminster system of Britannia is still used around the world today, and the Gallic Civil Code is used widely as a template for legal codifications. However, the system governing the Republics is that of an imperial federacy, where both republics have a high level of autonomy however are obligated to remain aligned to the sovereign - albeit highly ceremonial - Emperor. The Imperial Zone of Italia is an exception to the Emperor's ceremonial role: he or she has a highly active executive role in the governing of Italia along with the Senate, which is his balance of power in the region. The entire state (government and citizenry), including the Republics and the Imperial Zone, is referred to and officially titled S'''enātus '''P'opulus'q'ue '''Rōmānus'' (the Senate and the People of Rome), or SPQR. It is commonly accepted that the Republics consist of only an executive and a legislative branch of government. The judiciary is largely made up of executive officials - civilian or military magistrates or praetors act as judge and jury in civil or criminal disputes. The Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law) is the main codification of the Roman law. These judicial officials are expected to strictly enforce it, and if they act unfairly or beyond its bounds, they stand the risk to lose their station and face penal punishment or exile. Although in both civil and especially criminal cases the "trials" are generally straightforward and to the point, citizens have the ability to appeal to the next highest official with judicial capacities in their region. The highest level of appeal is to the Tribune of the People, which is a more legislative than executive office. Each Republic is able to declare provinces within its territory and is free to designate the powers to those provinces as it wishes. Both the Western and Eastern Republic must have a Popular Assembly, which is the representatives of the citizens of each republic. The Popular Assembly balances the power with the executive Consul of the respective republic. The Senate is the de facto national legislature, although officially it only operates as an advisory body to the Popular Assemblies, the Consuls and the Emperor. The reason for it being regarded as de facto national legislature is that to gain a seat in the Senate, a citizen must already posses much influence and political power; thus, usually, when the Senate reaches an agreement, the object of their agreement has little choice but to comply or face the chance of not being reelected or being excommunicated by the Emperor. Londinium is the capital of the Western Roman Republic, and is located in Britannia. Constantinople is the capital of the Eastern Roman Republic, and is located in Byzantium. Military Although there exists two republics, there is one centralized military organization, the Roman Armed Forces. It has no navy, army or air force, however, its respective branches which deal with those respective areas of specialization are usually referred to as such. For example, the various Roman Legions, which are the ground forces of the Armed Forces, are referred as "the army" by commoners. The flotilla regions are referred to as "the navy" and the air wings are referred to as "the air force." The Roman Armed Forces is the most powerful military in Europe and the commonly-accepted third-most powerful in the world, after the United States and China. As with the rest of Roman society, the military, civil society and the government are heavily integrated. Being a soldier is considered very honorable, especially if the soldier has fought or died on the battlefield. Conscription is not permanent in the Republics, however can be activated before an expected war and for some time thereafter. The military has no one "highest ranking" military official. The Emperor is the ceremonial commander-in-chief while the two consuls of the Republics have control over the respective units in their territories. Second to the consuls are the "military" senators in the Senate (those senators who came to be in the Senate by military virtue, or have past experience as military commanders), then the various magistrates, praetors or tribunes. Any one of these can be named a general or a legate during the time they need to be actively involved with the military. Foreign analysts have considered the Roman Armed Forces to be the most heavily disorganized military in the world because of its lack of permanent hierarchy or leadership, however, it has been common for the military of Rome to be this way since the first republican era. The Praetorian Guard, which is the only military force allowed in Italia (however, ironically, it's official name is the 13th Legion Italia), is independent from the Armed Forces, and takes its orders directly from the Emperor and the Senate. The Imperial Guard, which is the Republics' diplomatic protection military unit, which is found on most of its embassies around the world, is also independent from the Armed Forces, and is commanded by the relevant ambassador in question. The Republican Guard is a collective name for various paramilitary organizations acting as the gendarmarie in cities or towns. They are usually commanded by the local magistrate. Slavery Slavery has always been a cornerstone of Roman society, since its foundation. With that being said, Rome is the only country in the world today which still has legal slavery, although it is highly regulated. All citizens are born equal, however, slavery (and the loss of Roman citizenship) is adopted under the following circumstances: *A person owing money cannot pay back what is due, and has no assets to sell. *A criminal, after a minimum of 10 years served in prison over a period of at least two terms re-offends. Slaves however do not become pure property of their new "owners." Slavery, instead, is officially known as Forced Employment (long title: F'orced '''E'mployment 'W'ithout 'C'ompensation - FEWC). A slave's bill of rights exists, which includes a slave's right to life and immunity from cruel and unusual punishment. Owners are disallowed from impeding their slaves from approaching the regional authorities to lodge a complaint of maltreatment. The death of a slave must be reported and investigated. If the slave has been murdered, the owner can face a severe fine or jail time of up to 5 years. Slavery is also not permanent. In the first case, where a person is unable to repay debts and has no assets which can be sold, the person will only remain a slave until the judicial authorities declare that the slave's service has reached the point where it sufficiently compensates for the money owed. In the second case, where a criminal who re-offended after serving two jail terms amounting to a minimum of 10 years, the person will be "set free" after serving at least 10 years as a slave. However, in this regard, each case is individually moderated. Some persons who the judicial authorities fear will re-offend again after being set free will have to remain for a further 5 years. Persons are able to voluntarily submit themselves into slavery via a contract. Reasons for this may be to repay a non-monetary debt or to be excluded from conscription during wartime. Slaves are individually able to sign their rights away, however, by law, they must do so without having been coerced. In practice, however, it has been noted to be impractical to investigate the possibility of coercion in every case. Human rights groups the world over have severely condemned the Republics' continued usage of slaves, however the imperial government has always justified its practice as "being a vital part of Roman culture and society." Culture and demographics Roman culture is heavily entwined with Roman political systems. Prior to the modern era, Romans were very socially conservative, and especially during the Republic and Empire, they viewed the white Roman male citizen as superior to all else. Slave culture has been subdued heavily, although slavery is still legal in certain aspects of the law. The new Roman social liberalism came about in the early 1900s after Rome lost all of its oversees colonies. Citizens, and to a lesser extent, government, started winding down on their defensive isolationist nature, and began embracing the ideals of a pure, fair and just society. Slowly but surely, women and people of color gained rights and were eventually enfranchised. Today, all races, sexual orientations, and cultures enjoy relatively equal freedoms and rights throughout the Republics. Largest cities *Constantinople - 13,854,740 (Istanbul) *Cairus - 9,120,350 (Cairo) *Londinium - 8,174,000 (London) *Angora - 4,965,542 (Ankara) *Alexandrea - 4,546,231 (Alexandria) *Casablanca - 4,341,091 (Casablanca) *Palus - 3,499,879 (Berlin) *Icosium - 3,415,811 (Algiers) *Matritum - 3,284,110 (Madrid) *Kioviensis - 2,785,100 (Kiev) *'''Roma - 2,777,979 (Rome) *Tripolitanus - 2,220,000 (Tripoli) *Lutetia - 2,203,817 (Paris) *Beroea - 2,132,100 (Aleppo) *Aura - 2,064,900 (Baku) *Philadelphia - 1,919,000 (Amman) *Hamburgum - 1,808,489 (Hamburg) *Aquincum - 1,741,041 (Budapest) *Vindobona - 1,731,234 (Vienna) *Damascos - 1,711,000 (Damascus) *Gaudium - 1,677,985 (Bucharest) *Singidunum - 1,659,440 (Belgrade) *Faventia - 1,621,537 (Barcelona) *Kiokivensis - 1,470,000 (Kharkiv) *Monachum - 1,439,474 (Munich) *Mediolanum - 1,338,436 (Milan) *Pragae - 1,290,846 (Prague) *Serdica - 1,204,685 (Sofia) *Apparentia - 1,121,900 (Yerevan) *Tepido - 1,106,700 (Tbilisi) *Beormingas - 1,074,300 (Birmingham) *Paludem - 1,048,491 (Brussels) *Oppidum Ubiorum - 1,036,117 (Cologne) *Telum - 1,007,200 (Dnipropetrovsk) *Papyrione - 1,003,705 (Odessa) Category:Super Warmonkey Category:Rome (SWM)